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Train tracks of our tears put to good use

A BLACK line runs vertically through the iconic map of the tube, London’s underground rail network. This is the Northern Line – or the “misery line”, as veteran commuters call it.

Elderly rolling stock and seemingly endless delays gave the line this unfortunate nickname in the 1990s. It has (rather unfairly) stuck despite improvements to the service. Indeed, disgruntled users of other tube lines tend to co-opt the name when their own services are lacklustre.

Now it turns out that information about tube journeys can be used to figure out which areas of a city are relatively ignored – which is often linked with urban deprivation (see “Crunch commuter data to track changing communities“). So the daily grind for commuters could help us to better understand urban well-being. A good way to alleviate misery on and off the tracks.